Monday, September 27, 2010

Autumn is here! That means our Texas days and nights will finally be a little cooler.

I decided to make some soup for us tonight. I also wanted to try a new recipe. So I looked a favorite cook book for soups, Taste of Home Soup cook book, and found one that sounded good. I loved that I had most of the ingredients on hand and it seemed pretty easy to make. Jim and I really liked it.

Yesterday my sweet neighbor brought us some brownies and cornbread. The cornbred was perfect with this soup. I wanted to let her know we liked her cornbread (liked the brownies too) so thought it would be fun to let her try the soup so off I went to her house with a bowl of it. She just returned with the empty bowl and said she loved it and wanted the recipe. What fun to share with neighbors. I am sure you have a neighbor that would love to be blessed by something you have baked, or take them a cup of this soup!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

We were stationed at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas when my father passed away some years ago. My parents lived in Ohio and after the funeral it was very difficult for me to leave, knowing we lived so far away. I remember pulling up in front of our house in Kansas and thinking how everything had changed in my life and how sad I felt. I was still setting in the car when Jim reached the door. He yelled to come see what our friends had done. There were notes all over the place, beginning with the front door. I saw little notes on the bathroom sink that said, "cleaned with love" and notes on towels that said, "folded with love". I could hardly see through the tears but kept walking through the house and kept finding notes everywhere. Our friends had cleaned our home while we were gone. When I made my way to the kitchen I saw food for us with a note "prepared with love".On the counter were chocolate bars with a note that said, "baked with love". We were laughing and crying by the time we walked through the house and saw all the love that had been bestowed upon us by our friends. God was indeed loving us through these wonderful friends. I will never forget their kindness and so wish today I could see them and thank them one more time. The other night I needed to bake something for our church staff Life Group meeting. I looked in my recipe box for something to bake. I found the recipe for the bars that our friend Kandy had left on our kitchen counter those many years ago. A flood of memories came to my mind as I held the recipe in my hand. I also thought about my sweet friend, Kandy, who is now with the Lord, and was very glad she had given me her recipe. I prepared it and took it to Life Group. Everyone loved the bars. It was fun sharing with the ladies the story of where the recipe came from and the precious acts of kindness we received. Below is the recipe. I hope you will enjoy it and maybe pass it along to someone in need of a hug!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl combine peanut butter, butter, brown sugar and sugar. Beat until creamy. Gradually beat in eggs and vanilla. Blend in flour, baking powder and salt. Spread in a greased 13" x 9" x 2" baking pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Place in oven for 3 minutes. Remove from oven;run knife through to marbleize. Return to oven for about 30 minutes (I suggest checking on them at 25 minutes). Cool and cut into bars.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

I have always loved the beach. The first time I ever saw the ocean or was on a beach was after I graduated from high school and visited a friend in CA. I still remember the wonder of seeing it all, laying on the beach and feeling the hot sun on my back and loving it. I knew I wanted to return some day. The next time I went was for our honeymoon at Virgina Beach. It was so awesome to hear the roar of the waves each night from our ocean front room. Then while Jim was in Viet Nam he was able to fly to Hawaii for R and R. We spent a glorious week on the beach! We talked about how fun it would be to be stationed there one day. About two years later we were indeed stationed at Scholfield Barrack, HI. We lived on the beach on the North Shore for almost 5 years. An amazing time in our lives and a dream come true. There is so much that I love about the ocean and the beach. I love the sound of the waves crashing onto the shore. I love the look of the ocean, so powerful and mighty or very calm and gentle. I love the feel of the sand between my toes as I walk along the shore. I love getting up early to watch the sun rise over the ocean. I love seeing it set at night as it looks like it is falling into the ocean. I love looking out at the ocean and catching a glimpse of dolphins or whales jumping or a boat sailing by. Truly it is one of my favorite places to be. For the past four years we have been fortunate enough to take a yearly trip to Gulf Shores, AL with our family. I get to enjoy all the beauty of the ocean and beach for one week. I am full of thanks to God. I see Him in the beauty all around me.